Pasta Gratin Recipes

Little Aria's preschool classmate Mary welcomed her second baby sister two weeks ago. We thought we would prepare a homemade meal for her family. Ground beef is perfectly suited to toddlers' palates, so for the main dish, Aria and I prepared mac and cheese comfort food with a nesting beef and tomato bed of its very own.

First, I prepared the bottom layer with a mixture of ground beef, tomatoes, thyme and onions. Then I added creamy Cheddar mac and cheese.

I've included a picture of the menu once we wrapped up the entire meal for Mary's family.

We've been experiencing rainy days in the Bay Area and I thought a little comfort food would warm us up. I couldn't decide between a shepherd's pie or mac and cheese, so I went for a combination of the two.

To keep the dish vegetarian, I prepared the bottom layer with a mixture of vegetarian protein crumble, tomatoes and onions; you could opt for regular ground beef if you prefer. Instead of topping the dish with mashed potatoes as you would in a standard shepherd's pie recipe, I added creamy mac and cheese. Needless to say, the richness of the dish was a huge hit even baby Aria asked for more!

My husband Lulu's little nieces from Oakland are staying with us for a week. I'm going to make their favorite dishes and we prepared a lot of fun activities so they have a memorable stay with us. This morning, we took several large baskets and they helped me pick fruits and vegetables for lunch. We gathered so many tomatoes, I decided to make tomato sauce to store for the winter. But as I was preparing mac and cheese for the children in the evening, I changed my mind and added the tomato sauce to a modified version of the kid-friendly dish.

I spread a layer of tomato sauce at the bottom of the dish and also flavored the béchamel sauce with fire-roasted tomatoes. They impart a light sweetness and pleasant tanginess that complements the flavors of the cheese and sauce very well. So not only did I coerce the kids into going outside to do a physical activity, I also snuck some veggies into a dish they can’t resist. Pham Fatale indeed!

As I spent my childhood in France, Thanksgiving wasn't part of our traditional feasts. I’ve come to believe that Thanksgiving is synonymous with an abundance of comfort food. My personal all-time favorite comfort food is mac and cheese, so I tried adapting the dish with the flavors of the holiday season. I added diced pumpkin to the traditional layers of macaroni, white sauce and string-y, melted cheese. The pumpkin infuses a mild sweetness into the dish and really adds another dimension. It also doesn’t hurt that the colors are so reminiscent of Thanksgiving.

Mac and cheese is a great dish that is suitable all year round. You can flavor the dish with your favorite ingredients such as morel mushrooms, red pesto or any combination of cheeses. If pumpkin isn’t your thing, make your own pasta gratin creation; let your imagination run wild!